Gadgetory

the major smartphone releases for the first half of 2016 are out and reviewed now when it comes to cameras have we really seen progress over last year's shooters or is 2016 shaping up to be a year of photography gimmicks I'm Juan Carlos bag now for pocket now and here's our top 5 smartphone cameras for the first half of 2016 first a little housekeeping we're talking about the best of the best and we're focusing on the camera package offered by the manufacturer both hardware and software that means we're looking at the photo and video performance you get right out of the box not what you might be able to do with these cameras if you were to install a third-party app and this list might include some phones from 2015 if those phones are still a top offering from a manufacturer number 5 the Huawei p9 this dual camera experiment influenced by Leica has catapulted while waiting to producing some of the best stills we've ever seen from a smartphone camera color saturation clarity dynamic range are all top-notch on the shooter thanks in part to a color sensor and a monochrome sensor working in tandem to make your shots as vibrant as possible in addition to great photography Hardware Huawei also has one of the best laid out apps we've seen in recent memory very consistent delineation between modes settings and controls requires very little memorization from the user to know where you are in the app and how to control settings on this camera while this photography performance is bleeding-edge video performance is unfortunately last generation at best there is no UHD video on tap this phone topping out at 1080p at 60 frames per second but that high-quality video mode lacks any kind of image stabilization software or Hardware still this is phenomenal improvement from a company who's really starting to take those lifestyle features like cameras seriously number for the iPhone 6s plus Apple is very conservative with their hardware upgrades but we finally have iPhone shooters that can produce UHD video when this higher resolution is combined with Apple's track record for having extremely consistent color processing class-leading slow motion video and the best HDR processing we've seen from a mobile you know you're in for a solid camera experience and specifically the 6s plus over the 6s or the iPhone se because of that hybrid hardware image stabilization system the iPhone camera app is the most familiar camera app on the market today any consumer upgrading from an older phone will instantly be familiar with the settings controls and options that an iPhone camera has to offer of course that app is starting to show its age and really could do with a refresh or a little extra polish for all of the new features that Apple is starting to put into their smartphone cameras still it's really compelling to see a phone from any manufacturer offer up such consistent performance number three the HTC 10 welcome back HTC the 10 delivers excellent top-tier sensor and lens performance for a smartphone camera this is a back-to-basics year for HTC no funky gimmicks no dual sensors just working on the core photo and video experience and we think users of the HTC 10 will be in for a treat but this camera is still very much a work in progress and we would like to see a little more polish on fun features like HDR and panorama stitching plus there are some video mode omissions like control for exposure or the ability to shoot 60 frames per second 1080p while the HTC 10 only lands our number 3 spot were happy to deliver our most improved camera award over the phone that HTC put out last year number 2 the LG v10 LG put out a really interesting dual sensor camera on the g5 one with a standard field of view one with an ultra wide field of view but when it comes to delivering on the core photography and video experience the LG v10 is a beast while many of our flagship phones now deliver expanded controls for photography like controlling the ISO the shutter speed or manual focus only the LG v10 brings that aesthetic that experience to video full granular controls for everything that you might want to adjust in terms of exposure the ability to control the audio and the source that you're recording from and the ability to get into some fairly professional options like changing up the aspect ratio or the bitrate what keeps the v10 out of the top spot is LG supplying a slightly lower quality lens than some of the other options we've played with the lens on the v10 is a bit more prone to fringing and aberration than some of our other options and while this has with the least powerful internals of any phone on this top 5 the v10 is still an absolute monster for content creation and the number one all round camera for the first half of 2016 the galaxy s7 edge now the difference is between an s7 and s7 edge are a little less severe than the differences between an iPhone 6s and 6s plus the camera Hardware on both galaxies is identical but we are giving the s7 edge than not simply for the larger battery these new galaxy cameras are insanely fast we've not seen any smartphone cameras which can launch an app as quickly can lock focus as accurately or fire through a burst mode as fast as a galaxy s7 edge Samsung delivers on all of the core features a great sensor a great lens and a nicely laid out app but that app is the one area where Samsung could stand to refine this experience just a little bit there's a little bit more hunting and memorizing for mode settings and controls but even with those minor criticisms the s7 and s7 edge offer up the most complete photography experience on any phone currently available to be sold at the time this video was created and we're ranking over all camera offerings this list becomes a lot more fluid when you're looking at specific features from each camera so we know you have thoughts and we want to hear them drop a comment below this video hopefully we can get into some fun debates as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for more fun comparisons like these make sure you hit that thumbs up button for a little extra positive reinforcement for pocket now i'm juan carlos bag now you can chat me up on twitter and instagram as some gadget guy and i will catch you all on the next video Oh